Xantho hydrophilus
| Xantho hydrophilus | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Clade: | Euarthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Infraorder: | Brachyura |
| Family: | Xanthidae |
| Genus: | Xantho |
| Species: | X. hydrophilus |
| Binomial name | |
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Xantho hydrophilus (Herbst, 1790) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Xantho hydrophilus, the furrowed crab or Montagu's crab, is a species of crab from the family Xanthidae. It is yellowish-brown and grows to a carapace width of 70 mm (2.8 in). It is a nocturnal herbivore that lives in shallow marine waters from western Scotland to the Cape Verde Islands.
The carapace of Xantho hydrophilus reaches a width of 70 millimetres (2.8 in), and a length of up to 22 mm (0.9 in). The dorsal surface of the carapace has a smooth appearance to the unaided eye but on closer examination it can be seen to be finely granular. The antero-lateral edge of the carapace bears five blunt lobes. The chelipeds are large and robust and equal in size and lackspines or tubercles, the pereiopods (walking legs) are relatively short and rather stout. It is yellowish-brown, except for the tips of the chelae, which are black.X. hydrophilus closely resembles X. pilipes, from which it can be distinguished by the absence of fringes of setae on the second to fifth pairs of pereiopods (walking legs). Other key identification features are that the second to fourthth pairs of antero-lateral lobes are separated from each other by an inward pointing, wide and shallow depression, the postero-lateral margins of the carapace are bristly and the inner surfaces of the propodus has a broad, longitudinal pitted cavity.
Xantho hydrophilus lives under stones on sandy and stony beaches, below the intertidal zone, up to a depth of 40 metres (130 ft), although it can be found in rock pools at low tide. It is a herbivore which feeds chiefly on various algae, and is mostly active at night. When disturbed it spreads out its large chelipeds to make itself seem bigger.
Mating takes place in spring, and the females carry the fertilised eggs on their pleopods from March to July; the larvae can be found in the plankton over most of the summer.
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Wikipedia